KMT Chairman Lien Chan (連戰) yesterday called on former party comrades to "return to the family" and unite under the KMT banner to oppose the DPP in the Dec.1 elections.
"The KMT is an open-minded party. We happily welcome all comrades to return to their family," Lien said during a campaign rally for Hung Hsiu-chu (
Lien's remark was widely interpreted as an indirect response to New Party co-founder Yok Mu-ming's (郁慕明) recent proposal for regrouping the KMT, People First Party and New Party into a another party after the elections.
"Let's unite the family and fight it out with the DPP on Dec. 1," Lien added.
The PFP and New Party, both of which are splinter groups from the KMT, claim to be followers of Sun Yat-sen's (孫中山) doctrines. They enjoy broad support among voters of mainland Chinese origin, who tend to be pro-unification.
Since the KMT expelled its pro-independence former chairman Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) it has been trying to restore support in this voter group to improve its chances of remaining the largest party in the legislature after the elections.
Lien said the voters would have to choose whether the "hard life" imposed by the DPP upon the people would come to an end.
Over the past 18 months of DPP rule, the country's unemployment rate, debts, suicide rate and crime rates have risen, while the economic growth rate, investment and people's incomes have nosedived, Lien said.
Under these circumstances, he said, the choice is "clear and simple," as the KMT is the party that created the Taiwan miracle in which the country's economy grew an average 8.1 percent a year.
"When choosing the KMT, we must unite and muster all our strength. Not a single vote can be wasted," Lien said.
The KMT was obliged to "restore order" to society, he continued, when some people were splitting the country along ethnic lines to "cheat votes out of the people for political interests."
Despite the rivalry between the KMT and DPP in the elections, a poll released yesterday showed that the percentage of people supporting a post-election KMT-DPP coalition was higher than that supporting a coalition of the KMT, PFP and New Party.
While 25.5 percent of respondents believed a KMT-DPP coalition would bring political stability, only 17.9 percent believed a KMT-PFP-New Party alliance would do the same.
The poll was conducted on Nov. 15 and Nov. 16 by Decision Making Research who interviewed 803 people. Among KMT supporters, 26.5 percent supported the idea of a KMT-DPP coalition, and another 21.6 percent said they preferred a "pan-blue" coalition.
On the role of the KMT, 43.3 percent thought the KMT should cooperate with the government, compared with 39.1 percent who thought the KMT should act as an opposition party.
KMT legislator Chen Horng-chi (
They urged the DPP to stop its mud-slinging campaign against the KMT to pave the way for post-election reconciliation.
A signaling system malfunction disrupted high-speed rail (HSR) services beginning at 8am today, with trains temporarily reduced to three northbound and three southbound trains per hour as authorities conduct inspections. The malfunction occurred on a section of track in Miaoli County during pre-operation checks early this morning, forcing northbound and southbound trains to use a single track, the HSR operator said. The regular schedule has been replaced with three hourly trains offering only nonreserved seating in each direction, stopping at every station, it said, adding that business class cars would still have reserved seating. Departures from terminal stations are scheduled at the top
DRONE CENTRAL: Taiwan aims to become Asia’s democratic hub for drones, with most exports focused on high-quality military-grade models, an official said Taiwan’s drone industry is expected to expand significantly by 2030, producing 100,000 units per month and exporting half of them, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday. Current drone production capacity is about 15,000 units per month, but the industry can quickly scale up as demand increases, Industrial Development Administration Director-General Chiou Chyou-huey (邱求慧) told a news conference in Taipei. Taiwan’s drone output grew 2.5-fold last year to NT$12.9 billion (US$408.3 million) under a government program to develop the uncrewed vehicle sector, he said. The Executive Yuan in October last year approved plans to invest NT$44.2 billion into domestic production of uncrewed aerial
VERBOSE VESSELS: A CGA cutter and a China Coast Guard exchanged verbal barbs for more than a day in Taiwanese-controlled waters before the Chinese vessel left The Taiwanese and Chinese coast guards had a standoff near the strategically located Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島) in the north of the South China Sea, the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) said yesterday. The two sides engaged in intense radio exchanges over sovereignty claims during the 33-hour standoff. China Coast Guard vessel 3501 eventually left the restricted waters, 26.6 nautical miles (49.2km) west of the Pratas Islands, at 5pm yesterday, the CGA said. Lying approximately between southern Taiwan and Hong Kong, the Taiwan-controlled Pratas are seen by some security experts as vulnerable to Chinese attack due to their distance — more than
WARNING: China should stop engaging in actions that undermine regional peace and stability, as it would only build resentment among people across the Strait, the CGA said China has deployed more than 100 navy, coast guard and other vessels in waters from the Yellow Sea to the South China Sea and the western Pacific since US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) met in Beijing, National Security Council Secretary-General Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) said yesterday. “In this part of the world, #China is the one & only PROBLEM wrecking the #StatusQuo & threatening regional peace & stability,” Wu wrote on X. In a separate post, he said Beijing was coercing Taiwan’s maritime domain, calling it illegal and provocative, after the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) expelled a
RSS